New Riders of The Purple Sage in Concert at Brookhaven Lab, July 20

June 13, 2006

UPTON, NY - The legendary psychedelic country-rock band New Riders of the Purple Sage will play their first Long Island concert in more than two decades at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory on Thursday, July 20. The concert, sponsored by the BNL Music Club, will take place at 8 p.m. in the Laboratory's Berkner Hall and is open to the general public. All visitors to the Laboratory age 16 and over must bring a photo ID.

New Riders of the Purple Sage (Click image to download hi-res version.)

The New Riders of the Purple Sage lineup features original members David Nelson on guitar and Buddy Cage on pedal steel, with Michael Falzarano (Hot Tuna) on guitar, mandolin, and vocals; Johnny Markowski (Stir Fried/Jerry Garcia Band) on drums and vocals; and Ronnie Penque (Stir Fried/Jerry Garcia Band/Ripple) on bass and vocals. Original guitarist John "Marmaduke" Dawson is sitting out the current tour for health reasons.

The band emerged from the happening San Francisco music scene in the summer of 1969, when Dawson began playing coffeehouses and small clubs with Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia. The two were the nucleus of what would become the New Riders of the Purple Sage, and were joined later that same year by Nelson, who was proficient in both country and rock electric guitar.

With bassist Dave Torbert and former Jefferson Airplane drummer Spencer Dryden on board, the group's country-rock twang soon became a favorite of the San Francisco scene, as they played classic songs like "Panama Red," "Glendale Train," and "Henry." They toured extensively as an opening act for the Grateful Dead, with Garcia eventually dropping out and being replaced by pedal-steel wizard Cage. The New Riders went on to record 12 albums over the next 11 years on Columbia Records, MCA, and A&M. From the late 1970s through the 1990s, they toured with a variety of lineups, led by Dawson.

Tickets for the concert cost $25 each and can be purchased from www.ticketweb.com . Call 631 344-3846 for more information.

The Laboratory is located on William Floyd Parkway (County Road 46), one-and-a-half miles north of Exit 68 of the Long Island Expressway.

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One of ten national laboratories overseen and primarily funded by the Office of Science of the
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Brookhaven National Laboratory conducts research in the physical,
biomedical, and environmental sciences, as well as in energy technologies and national security.
Brookhaven Lab also builds and operates major scientific facilities available to university, industry
and government researchers. Brookhaven is operated and managed for DOE's Office of Science by Brookhaven
Science Associates, a limited-liability company founded by the Research Foundation for the State
University of New York on behalf of Stony Brook University, the largest academic user of Laboratory
facilities, and Battelle, a nonprofit applied science and technology organization.